Press Releases
Durbin Calls On His Senate Colleagues To Support Judicial Nominations Of Candace Jackson-Akiwumi & Deborah Boardman
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today called on his colleagues to support two judicial nominees who are being considered on the Senate floor this week: Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, nominated to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals; and Judge Deborah Boardman, nominated to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. "Ms. Candace Jackson-Akiwumi spent ten years as a federal public … Continue Reading
June 23, 2021
Durbin: Any Vaping Product That Increases Youth Use Must Be Rejected By FDA
WASHINGTON-U.S Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today testified at a House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy hearing entitled, "An Epidemic Continues: Youth Vaping in America." Today's hearing focused on the role of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in regulating e-cigarette products. After years of delay, the agency is in the process of determining which, if any, e-cigarettes will be allowed stay on the market. All e-cigarette manufacturers … Continue Reading
June 23, 2021
Durbin, Duckworth Forward Recommendations For U.S. Attorneys & U.S. Marshals To White House
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today sent a list of names to the White House to consider for two U.S. Attorney positions in the Central District and Southern District of Illinois and for three U.S. Marshal positions in the Northern District, Central District, and Southern District of Illinois. Based on recommendations made by screening committees the Senators established in each district, Durbin and Duckworth have forwarded … Continue Reading
June 23, 2021
Durbin Gives Opening Remarks In Judiciary Committee Hearing For Judicial & Executive Nominees
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during the nominations hearing for Gustavo A. Gelpi, to be United States Circuit Judge for the First Circuit; Angel Kelley, to be United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts; Christine P. O'Hearn, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey; Helaine Ann Greenfeld, to be an Assistant Attorney General, Office of … Continue Reading
June 22, 2021
Durbin Talks For-Profit Colleges, Student Debt With Federal Student Aid COO
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met virtually with Chief Operating Officer of Federal Student Aid Richard Cordray to discuss protecting students from predatory for-profit colleges and student loan bankruptcy. On the call, Durbin received an update about the Biden Administration's efforts to reverse damaging policies enacted during the Trump Administration. Cordray noted that the Department will soon be considering revisions to the borrower defense rule that … Continue Reading
June 22, 2021
Durbin Statement On Senate Vote On For The People Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement today after the For The People Act, a bill that would strengthen voting rights, secure our elections, reform our broken campaign finance system, and combat corruption through improving ethics laws for federal government officials, failed to advance on the Senate floor: "Democracy is at its strongest when every eligible voter has access to the ballot. By … Continue Reading
June 22, 2021
Durbin Questions Witness At Hearing on Federal Crack And Powder Cocaine Sentencing
WASHINGTON - During today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled, "Examining Federal Sentencing for Crack and Powder Cocaine," U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Regina LaBelle, Acting Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, whether there is any scientific basis for the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Durbin's Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 dramatically reduced this crack-powder … Continue Reading
June 22, 2021
Durbin Delivers Opening Statement At Hearing On Federal Crack And Powder Cocaine Sentencing Disparity
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during the "Examining Federal Sentencing for Crack and Powder Cocaine" Judiciary Committee hearing. During his opening statement, Durbin highlighted how the crack-powder cocaine disparity continues to disproportionately impact African-Americans, without any apparent public safety benefit. Durbin also discussed the bipartisan Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust … Continue Reading
June 21, 2021
Ahead Of Vote, Durbin Discusses Importance Of For The People Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) took to the Senate floor today to discuss his support for the For The People Act, a bill that would protect Americans from deliberate voter suppression laws by establishing minimum uniform federal standards for voter registration and casting a ballot. Since the January 6th insurrection, many Republican state legislatures have pushed through a wave of voter suppression laws on the basis of false theories of widespread voter fraud-many of … Continue Reading
June 21, 2021
Durbin: The Affordable Care Act Is Here To Stay
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered a speech on the Senate floor recognizing the Supreme Court's historic decision to keep the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in place. The decision, announced last week, marks the third time the Supreme Court has upheld the law, which has allowed nearly one million Illinoisans to be insured. In his speech, Durbin spoke about the long history of the ACA, outlasting continued Republican … Continue Reading
June 17, 2021
Durbin, Reed, DeLauro Introduce American Business For American Companies Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), and U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) today reintroduced the American Business for American Companies Act, bicameral legislation to extend the year-to-year government-wide ban on federal contracts for inverted corporations by moving it out of the annual appropriations process and into permanent law. Corporate inversions allow U.S. companies to shift their corporate citizenship from United Sates … Continue Reading
June 17, 2021
Durbin Attempts To Pass Bipartisan & Bicameral Legislation To Sustain Crime Victims Fund
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today on the Senate floor requested unanimous consent to pass the bipartisan VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act, which would strengthen the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) by fixing how the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) is funded. Specifically, the bill would redirect monetary penalties from federal deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements into the CVF to increase funding for state … Continue Reading
June 17, 2021
Durbin, Braun Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Establish Rural Transportation Infrastructure Office
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Mike Braun (R-IN), both members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today introduced the Rural Transportation Equity Act of 2021, which would improve federal support for transportation and infrastructure needs of rural communities in America. Current programs to assist rural areas are handled by various offices and agencies throughout the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Durbin and … Continue Reading
June 17, 2021
Durbin Questions Secretary Of Defense And Chairman Of Joint Chiefs Of Staff At Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today, at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing about the Department of Defense's Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Budget Request, questioned Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley. Durbin began his questioning asking about the importance of keeping our military nonpartisan. "Two of the pillars of our national defense are civilian control of the military and our ambition, goal, or demand … Continue Reading
June 17, 2021
Durbin, Grassley Statement On GAO Report On Prescription Drug Advertising's Impact On Medicare Spending
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) today released the following statement after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report they had requested entitled, "Prescription Drugs: Medicare Spending on Drugs with Direct-to-Consumer Advertising," which found direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements of prescription drugs drive drastic increases in Medicare costs: "This GAO report found that Pharma's $6 billon annual spending … Continue Reading
June 17, 2021
Durbin Statement On Supreme Court Ruling Dismissing Challenge To Affordable Care Act
WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after the Supreme Court dismissed a case challenging the Affordable Care Act: "Families across America can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that yet another Republican effort to overturn the ACA was rejected. Health coverage and pre-existing condition protections for millions of Americans are here to stay." … Continue Reading
June 17, 2021
Judiciary Committee Advances Nominations Of Tiffany Cunningham, Anne Milgram, & Kenneth Polite, Jr.
WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee today advanced the nominations of Tiffany P. Cunningham, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit, Anne Milgram, to be Administrator of Drug Enforcement, and Kenneth Allen Polite, Jr., to be an Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Criminal Division. Durbin delivered opening remarks highlighting the nominees' qualifications and experience. Cunningham received a vote of 16-6; Milgram received a unanimous … Continue Reading
June 16, 2021
Judiciary Committee Democrats Urge DOJ To Provide Committee OLC Memo On President Trump's Obstruction Of Mueller Investigation
WASHINGTON - Today, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) led all Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on a letter to Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland expressing serious concerns about the Trump-era Department of Justice's (DOJ) apparent misrepresentations to a federal court regarding the March 24, 2019 Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memorandum on President Trump's obstruction of Special Counsel Mueller's investigation. In their letter, Durbin and Senate Judiciary Committee … Continue Reading
June 16, 2021
Durbin Urges Secretary Of Education Cardona To Take On For-Profit Colleges And Help Struggling Student Borrowers
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today, at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services hearing about the Department of Education's Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Budget Request, urged Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to bring greater accountability and oversight to the for-profit college industry. In his remarks, Durbin highlighted that for-profit colleges and universities enroll just eight percent of all post-secondary … Continue Reading
June 16, 2021
Durbin Commemorates Juneteenth, Calls Out Filibuster As Tool To Hinder Civil Rights Legislation
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) took to the Senate floor today to commemorate Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the end of slavery in America. In his speech, Durbin told the story of the Emancipation Proclamation and acknowledged the long legacy of slavery, perpetuated by a contradiction at the center of our nation's founding principle that all people "are created equal." "Halfway through that war, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation … Continue Reading